Tittle: How PV module’s power is affected by series and parallel connections using artificial
luminescence.
Research Question: How do series versus parallel circuits in PV modules affect the current
output? How do these circuits affect the voltage output? Then multiplying the current and the
voltage, how does the power output differ from the two connections?
Hypothesis: Series and parallel connections have no effect on the PV’s power output.
Experimental Variable (s):

Series circuits

Parallel circuits
Dependent Variable (s):

Current

Voltage

Power
Control Variable (s):

Lamp angle

Bulb wattage

Number of alligator wires
Materials:

Bendable desk lamp

150 W light bulb

Two alligator clips

Two, two cell modules

Multimeter
Procedure:
1. Bulb should be screwed into desk lamp, the lamp one meter off the ground the light
facing the ground.
(If the lamp isn’t made for a 150 W bulb then make sure to shut it off when not
measuring the modules voltage and current.)
2. Connect the multimeter and the modules in series, using the alligator clips.
3. Turn on desk lamp and measure using the multimeter in milla amps, the current, then
measure in milla volts, the voltage.
4. Connect the multimeter and the modules in parallel, using the alligator clips.
5. Turn on desk lamp and measure using the multimeter in milla amps, the current, then
measure in milla volts, the voltage.
Conversion Units:
1 mAmp = .001 Amp
19.5 mA (.001A / 1mA) = .0195 A
10.3 mA (.001 A/ 1mA) = .0103 A
Results:
When reading the data chart, it is important to look at the each chart’s scales.
We didn’t record the current and voltage of one module. This could have helped to see any
patterns between the power of one module versus the power output of two modules connected in
series and parallel. Also the data table of watts appears to show a large difference between
parallel vs series, the power outputs differ by just 0.0008 watts which is not large enough to be
significant. We do not know for certain if this seemingly small margin of difference is relevant.
Conclusion:
Series and parallel connections did not have a significant effect on the power output. However
there was a pattern found. A larger current output (amperage) occurred when connected in
parallel and there was also more of a voltage output (voltage) when connected in series circuit.
Technically the series circuit had more power but it was not a large enough difference in the end.
After converting milla volts and milla amps we saw that there was about 1.7 V when the modules
were connected in series (higher than the .86 V when connected in parallel). Then the current had
smaller unit differences, as the current was weak any way in parallel it was just 0.0092 Amps
more while connected in Parallel. The data charts emphasize the pattern between the give and
take relationships of the connections.
However these findings support that all electrical connections have maximum voltage while
connected in series and maximum amperage connected in parallel but the systems power will be
relatively unchanged. Batteries and PVC modules i.e. electrical system’s power can be measured
by connecting them in series for maximum voltage available and in parallel for maximum
amperage available. So when there is a mixing of these connections in a system then maximum
power can be achieved, answering why solar modules are found to be connected in both.
There could have been a number of errors in our experiment. There was an initial attempt when
we got data that did not correlate within the margin of possible errors, numbers that were huge.
So we could have not waited long enough for the mulitmeter to get a proper reading. We could
have had the lamp too close, or not gotten enough surface area touching the mulitmeter’s wires
to the alligator clips. All of these said we are confident that these errors did not get in the way of
understanding the concept of this PVC system.